Editorial: Hillcrest businesses want bike lanes the right way

By Benjamin Nicholls

Historically, Hillcrest has been a hub for urban innovation in San Diego. So, it’s not surprising that SANDAG, the regional transportation authority, chose Hillcrest to pilot the first phase of its new protected bicycle pathway. SANDAG plans to create miles of bike paths throughout the city and they’re starting in Hillcrest.

Generally, Hillcrest business owners are enthusiastic about bicycles and bicycling culture. In fact, Hillcrest was the first neighborhood in the city to install on-street bicycle corrals (they’re the rainbow ones sponsored by the Hillcrest Business Association (HBA)). Given this past support for alternative transportation, we believe the criticism of Hillcrest business owners asking questions about the SANDAG plan, and seeking ways to provide input, is misdirected.

At first blush, elements of the plan concern many Hillcrest small business owners. For example, the plan calls for closing the off-ramp from Washington Street to University Avenue, and it could remove more than 90 on-street parking spots along University Avenue. For anyone who frequents the shops and restaurants in Hillcrest, it’s obvious these two land-use decisions would have a significant impact on the ability to access the business core of Hillcrest by car. Because of these concerns, the HBA is working with the impacted business owners to obtain more information and encourage SANDAG, and our elected officials, to reconsider the off-ramp closure and minimize the parking loss as much as possible.

Despite what’s been said by others, the HBA and Hillcrest small business owners do support additional transportation options for customers. In fact, over the last several months, alternative ideas (like Transforming Hillcrest) have garnered a lot of community support. This proposal would provide safe and enjoyable paths for bicycle riders and still give people the option to drive (and park) their cars along storefronts.

Hillcrest business owners are also seeking ways to slow down vehicles on University Avenue through traffic calming measures related to the bike path, which would make University Avenue safer for everyone. In addition, they also support having a two-way bike lane on Fourth or Sixth avenues, rather than the option, currently proposed by SANDAG, of removing dozens and dozens of parking spaces on an already narrow Fifth Avenue.

These suggestions and ideas are provided in the spirit of constructive and respectful dialogue. Business owners, their customers and residents alike should all be afforded the opportunity to participate in a public process about something that can have impacts, both good and bad.

The notion that Hillcrest business owners don’t support plans for safe biking is just simply wrong. Hillcrest businesses are committed to working with SANDAG, the city of San Diego, our elected officials, and others on a plan that improves safety, multi-modal mobility and a vibrant local economy. We don’t believe any of these are mutually exclusive, and we look forward to making the proposed bike paths better and more useful for everyone.

—Benjamin Nicholls is executive director of the Hillcrest Business Association.

Letters

South Park on Target

As someone who works, dines, shops, and (briefly) lived in South Park, I welcome Target as a great addition to the neighborhood [See Volume 7, Issue 6 “TargetExpress fight spawns South Park Town Council”]. I am tired of having to drive to North Park, downtown or farther to find produce that is not as saggy and wrinkled as I feel some days. Target also offers much better prices on housewares and pharmacy items than many of the tired, sad little stores that seem to mean well but just fall short in quality, variety, and price. South Park is improving in so many other ways, I just don’t understand the Luddite mentality that wants to block this one small area of progress.

Roger Scott,
North Park

[Councilmember] Todd Gloria nor his reps were at the rally. I received the stock response, which didn’t include an answer, from his office when I inquired about their lack of representation at the rally. Whether they can affect anything or not, we are Mr. Gloria’s “customers.”

Jeanette Voss,
South Park

Has anyone opposed to this project in South Park visited the WalMart in Logan heights? There is no overwhelming traffic in need of traffic lights. Can national chains not coexist next to independent businesses in South Park as they appear to do in North Park? Would the same protesters protest if Trader Joe’s was moving in? Has anyone noticed that there is a 7-Eleven that has coexisted next to Gala for decades? I agree with Councilmember Todd Gloria and the owners of Gala on this one. The owners want to retire. Trader Joe’s was not interested in opening on their site. Target was. Target agreed to the current footprint of the store and appears to want to work with the community as far as coexisting with the other tenants of the property. What right do we have to limit their retirement income by opposing their agreement? I believe a great disservice has been given to the owners who simply want to retire. I suspect that many protesters did not shop at Gala before. If that is the case, simply do not shop at TargetExpress either, but do not deny others who want the amenities that Target will offer the right to shop there. Let the people of South Park vote with their wallets on this one. If enough people agree with the protesters and boycott the store then it won’t be profitable to Target and they will leave. I wish more time and energy was spent on finding a solution for all such as finding another dependent tenant to satisfy all sides. We are lucky another developer has not come along proposing too many housing units for that site. I’d rather have a national chain there than a monstrous apartment building.

Kimberly D’Souza,
South Park

I am a 15-year resident of South Park and in the pages of Uptown News and other media, I read repeatedly of the “no concessions” opposition to the proposed TargetExpress in the old Gala Market. I would like to point out that there are many of us in the neighborhood who are not opposed to this project.

I love our neighborhood and value its uniqueness, one aspect of which is that we can walk to many services, restaurants, etc. With the loss of Gala, I now have to drive to supermarkets in North Park or downtown. I would welcome a market such as TargetExpress with better prices and a cleaner, more attractive interior than what we have had. In addition there would be a pharmacy and other options that we do not now have, all within walking distance. My understanding is that Target has agreed to not include a Starbucks so as to not compete with neighborhood coffee houses. I would expect that they would even add some landscaping to that ugly, barren expanse of parking lot.

I have heard from some opponents that they would welcome a Sprouts or a Trader Joe’s (neither of which is interested in coming here). That tells me that they are not really opposed to a big corporation in the neighborhood, just this particular one. If Target abandons this project, I fear that we are going to have an ugly, empty, deteriorating building in the middle of our neighborhood for a long time to come.

Finally I agree that the Grape/Fern streets intersection is a problem, but it always has been and I would expect city engineers to be able to design something to ameliorate the situation there.

Thank you.

John Tibbals,
South Park

Bicycle helmets and brain damage

Hutton:

Your article “To helmet or not to helmet” in the March 13 issue of San Diego Uptown News [Volume 7, Issue 6], begs the real question: “to be or not to be.” I want my kids and my neighbors to be safe on the streets of San Diego! I buckle up! Anyone sharing the right-of-way should exercise the same degree of caution as I do. When I rent a vehicle, I make sure it has good brakes and seat belts. I use both, whether I intended to rent that vehicle or not or simply “spontaneously” decided on a trip up the coast.

Life is precious to me and I hope to keep my prodigy alive and healthy after I stride from “the stage.” I do not want to see my health care cost soar because of a growth in traumatic brain injuries. And I have no idea where you came up with the idea that Senator Liu’s bill “… reinforces the false notion that bicycling isn’t beneficial to personal health.” I encourage people to bicycle, and here in North Park we are encouraging new bicycling lanes, the adoption of “share the road” programs and the DecoBike rental system. Being a responsible member of society entails using the brains we were given and exercising reasonable standards of behavior to keep from damaging them.

I don’t wave red flags at bulls because they have a hard-wired response to that stimulus. People who are spontaneous may be hard-wired to exhibit behavior which is not thought through and evaluate all possible outcomes, and your article improperly tries to justify irresponsible behavior. I do not want to pay for the consequence of that behavior.

The bill is much more than a “…Band-Aid on what’s likely a non-existent wound.” You quoted the accident statistics and the volume of trips is not the driving statistics. It is the people who are insured! Vehicle trips have soared in the last 100 years but windshield wipers, seat belts and crash-absorbing vehicle design have prevailed and lowered overall injuries absolutely as vehicle trips have increased geometrically. Let’s get ahead of the curve when it comes to vehicle trips by bicycle!

Alan Bennett,
North Park